Japanese raise questions about homeland security

KENJI HALLAssociated Press Writer

Published Saturday, May 22, 2004

TOKYO -- The report was deeply troubling for Japan, where immigration agents pride themselves on keeping tight controls on foreigners. A French fugitive suspected of links to al-Qaida and with a history of violent crime slipped into the country and lived quietly as a car dealer.

The media accounts of Lionel Dumont's entry into Japan -- so far only partially confirmed by authorities -- have clearly rattled Japanese security officials and raised questions about their ability to block infiltration by potential terrorists and other criminals.

"He appears to have entered Japan using a fake name. I regret our failure to catch him," Justice Minister Daizo Nozawa said at a news conference Friday.

Dumont was arrested in Germany in December and was extradited to France on Tuesday. His story caused particular concern because of fears that Japan could be a target for terrorist attack because of its support for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Tokyo has deployed hundreds of soldiers in southern Iraq on a humanitarian mission, despite public uneasiness about security.

Reflecting the jitters, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi ordered authorities Wednesday to boost security in public areas and at immigration points. The head of the Public Security Intelligence Agency, Takashi Oizumi, issued an urgent warning to his colleagues on Thursday.

"I want you to work at gathering information as if Japan were at risk of being the target of a terror attack tomorrow," he said during a briefing, without making a reference to Dumont.

In a country with a tiny expatriate community -- less than 2 percent of the 127 million population -- and already in the midst of a crackdown on crime by foreigners, the reported ease of Dumont's entry is startling.

French authorities have long associated Dumont, a Muslim, with the violent Roubaix gang in northern France, which they suspect of ties with Islamic radicals. He escaped a raid on the gang in 1996 that left some members dead, though French authorities say don't have enough evidence to charge the group with links to terrorists.

He headed to Bosnia to fight in the army alongside fellow Muslims and was arrested and convicted of killing a Bosnian police officer during a robbery and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He escaped in 1999 and vanished. Dumont was convicted in absentia and sentenced to life in prison by a French court in 2001.

According to Japanese media accounts, Dumont used a fake French passport to enter Japan in July 2002 and worked as a car salesman in the northern city of Niigata. He reportedly made several trips to Europe and Asia before leaving Japan the last time for Malaysia in September 2003.

Dumont is believed to have provided money and equipment to Islamic radicals, including al-Qaida, and may have been in Japan to set up a terror cell, the reports said, citing investigative sources. Kyodo News service reported on Friday that phone records show he continued to make phone calls to acquaintances in Japan after leaving.

Many in Japan are shocked that a man with such a history could slip through controls. He was reportedly listed on Interpol's Web site, and Ahmed Ressam, the Algerian convicted in the United States of planning to bomb the Los Angeles airport during millennium celebrations, has been linked to the Roubaix gang.

The shock has been compounded by the fact that Japan was on high alert at the time of Dumont's reported entry because of the just-finished 2002 World Cup, hosted by Japan and South Korea.

"Japan should have strengthened its anti-terror policies in the post-Sept. 11 era. But its border controls were lax and it let the suspect move freely," the Yomiuri, Japan's largest daily, said in an editorial this week. "The government must find out who is responsible, conduct a thorough inspection and come up with reforms."

Some blame Tokyo's lack of experience at identifying and hunting suspected terrorists. The Asahi newspaper said Dumont evaded Japanese authorities by simply taking an alias.

"Was there a preconceived idea that terrorists come from the Middle East?" the paper said in an editorial. "Europe and the United States have a long history with Islamic radicals, but Japan remains inexperienced."